Track Listing

1. Intro/Light It Up
2. Jazzalude I
3. New Reality Style
4. Lifesaver
5. Living In This World
6. Looking Through Darkness
7. Skit A
8. Watch What You Say
9. Jazzalude II
10. Defining Purpose
11. For You
12. Insert A (Mental Relaxation)
13. Medicine
14. Lost Souls
15. Insert B (The Real Deal)
16. Nobody Knows
17. Jazzalude III
18. Hip Hop As A Way Of Life
19. Respect The Architect
20. Feel The Music
21. Young Ladies
22. Traveller
23. Jazzalude IV
24. Count Your Blessings
25. Choice Of Weapons
26. Something In The Past
27. Skit B (A Lot On My Mind)
28. Revelation

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27573 in Music
• Released on: 1995-07-03
• Number of discs: 1

From Amazon.com
By the time Gang Starr's rapper Guru created the "experimental fusion of hip-hop and jazz" he called Jazzmatazz back in 1993, the idea of blending the two African-American styles had been fairly well explored. But as the first wholly self-conscious genremixing, Jazzmatazz Volume I was at least a decent novelty record. In the two Years that followed, however, jazz rap--from Digable Planets to Buckshot Lefonque to the Roots--grew into a dominant strain of alternative hip-hop.

The good news is that 1995's Jazzmatazz II acknowledges the changing times. Guru ups the ante by collecting artists from R&B (Chaka Khan, Mica Paris) and reggae (Ini Kamoze, Patra) in addition to jazz (Ramsey Lewis, Donald Byrd, Freddie Hubbard) and rap (Kool Keith, Big Shug). The concept broadens to bring together makers of all black music. At best, the songs reflect this more robust brew: "Watch What You Say," for instance, blends Khan's dynamic blue improvisational singing and Branford Marsalis's subdued saxophone phrases with Guru's rap and DJ Premier's unorthodox track of video game sound effects.

The bad news, though, is that Volume II fails in precisely the same places Volume I did. First, Guru still raps with fine tone but little gift for either rhythm or rhyme. In a monotone he self- righteously calls himself "The Lifesaver" but offers only vague solutions like "deal with reality and try to keep focus" to innercity turmoil. Second, except for Khan's vocals and perhaps Lewis' piano solo on "Respect the Architect," the style meshes never get a chance to rise out of the same tried hip-hop form. --Roni Sarig

Customer Reviews

...
this is the best of the three and is the best album i bought in a long time when i first got it. i bought all three straight after this one and number one is a close second with 3 trailing a bit behind!
this was recommended to me and im glad it was cos i dont know where id b without it!
perfect if your bird is nagging you to play something she likes too! just press play and sit down, no skipping is needed.
but seriously i hope guru does number 4 like this cos i thought 3 was a little commmercial compared to the full out jazz style of this one.
amazing isnt goood enough, brilliant maybe. stupendus certainly. the best, pretty much!

easy.

Great Hop-Hop But...
In this album guru gives you the filling that he is full of him self. Unlike the first very best album of Jazzmatazz, he doesn't give enough freedom to the other musicians, and it's really to bad if you just look at the names that appears in. however it still a very good hip-hop album, but if the first is a must have, I'm not sure that this one is too.